Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow
by Hathor
Summary: A snowball fight turns out to be a dangerous pastime for Josh & Donna. (unfinished)
1. Chapter 1

Author: TheGeekGirl  
Feedback: Pretty please to joshbunny@btopenworld.com  
Disclaimer: Sadly, these aren't mine :) Damn.  
Rating: PG-13 - I think.  
Category: J/D   
Summary: Snowballing turns out to be a dangerous pastime for J & D.  
Spoilers: None  
Archiving: Just drop me an email first.  
Notes: Urm, just a little bit of silliness really ! Still new to this so please bear with me. Oh and don't go looking for a plot anywhere....this is fluff :)

  
~*~*~*~ Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow ~*~*~*~

  
"Can my life get any worse?" Donna thought. It was late on a Saturday afternoon and they were stuck in the office. "Once upon a time, I had a life..." she muttered, trying to resist the urge to bang her head against the desk.

Josh looked up from the file he was reading. "Did you say something?" He looked relaxed in a pair of faded jeans and a worn dark green sweater with a white t-shirt beneath it.

She shook her head slightly and instead lent across to snatch the last piece of sweet and sour pork from Sam's takeout carton. He didn't notice her transgression immediately, absorbed as he was in his work. It was only when he reached for the carton a minute or so later, he realised that he'd been robbed.

"Hey! Who stole...." Donna didn't look up from her notes but just pointed with her pen at Josh.

"Me?" Josh spluttered. She looked up and gave him a stern look along with a raised eyebrow. However her eyes danced with amusement. His eyes narrowed but his retort was cut short as CJ swung her head around the office doorway. She was dressed casually in jeans and a sweater, like the rest of them. Her coat was draped over one arm.

"Do you people have no life?" she asked teasingly.

"Yes, CJ, we do. That is why we are in here working on P3817 on a Saturday night," Josh said, heavy sarcasm lacing his voice.

"P3817 is an honourable cause, Josh," CJ admonished, a small smile tugging at her lips as she entered the office.

"Yeah, cause ensuring that goldfish have rights is high on my list of 'things to do ocne we got into office'" he griped, returning to reading the file in front of him. 

P3817 was a proposed change to the animal rights legislation and despite Josh's gruff exterior, he did really believe in tightening up the animal welfare legislation. He just placed it slightly lower on his list of priorities.

"Well, being a goldfish owner, I am firmly in favour of P3817." CJ answered.

"CJ, your goldfish are in the White House. I doubt they are top of the abused list," he replied dryly.

"Unlike the staff here...." Donna muttered under her breath.

CJ grinned. "So which one of you pissed off Leo this time?" The three of them automatically all pointed at each other without looking up.

Sam sighed and took his glasses off and turned to face the tall Press Secretary. "CJ, did you come in here for any other reason other than to gloat?"

She gave him a huge smile. "Of course!" She gestured out of the office window where huge flakes of snow were drifting down lazily from a darkening dusk sky. "First snow of the year."

There was complete silence for a second and then all chaos broke loose.

  
*****************************

  
The tradition had started back when they were on the campaign trail, following a breakdown of the bus and a couple of shared beers while they waited for the breakdown service. Ever since then, they had celebrated the first full snowfall of every year in the same way. Which meant spending half an hour regressing back to their childhoods, as well as getting cold wet hands and feet. 

Although Leo frowned on it the frivolity of it, the President thought it was a great tradition. And being a great tradition it should be celebrated with, in his own words, "great gusto." So there was very little anyone else could do about it.

The four of them sped down the deserted corridor, shrugging into their respective coats. Donna encountered a slight logistical problem in attempting to turn while trying to find the other arm in her coat. Josh snickered and motored past her, smirking. There was a distinct tactical advantage in being the first outside.

On hearing what sounded like a school outing come barreling down the corridor, Leo stuck his head out of his office door. "Just what in God's name...." he yelled as he saw three of his senior staff and Donna steaming towards him. Sam tried to use Leo's appearance as a distraction to get by CJ but she was wise to the move and blocked him with a well-placed elbow. Leo bellowed again, "I said, what in God's name...." 

"Snow...Leo." Josh said rather breathlessly as they sped past. Leo rolled his eyes and retreated to his office, slamming the door shut. Damn whimsical Presidential orders.

  
*****************************

  
Josh was the first outside, quickly followed by CJ and then Sam and Donna. The snow was at least four inches on the ground he noted as he scouted about for cover. He looked back at CJ, who always seemed to do well at this, and realised that she had already secured her base of operations. Josh suspected that she had had the Secret Service do a quick recon sweep for her beforehand.

He smiled, ducked behind a large tree and scooped up some snow, packing it into a large ball. Then peering around the trunk, he took aim and threw. The snowball landed with a large splat on Sam's shoulder as the younger man searched for cover. "You snooze, you lose!" Josh yelled out. However his celebrations were cut short as a snowball hit him square on the side of the face. CJ's laughter rang out across the private garden.

Snowballing, especially involving these people, was an exercise in both physical and mental agility. Anything less wouldn't be considered fun. It consisted of shifting alliances, of strategic and logistical approaches. 

By now, both Donna and Sam had also found their own little niches of protection and a fully-fledged fight was under way. Small white spherical missiles shot this way and that. Occasionally supplemented by a shout of triumph or a yelp of a target.

To begin with CJ, Sam and Donna had formed a tacit alliance to bombard Josh's position, trying to weaken him. His competitive streak always made him a prime target. However a few minutes into the fight and already Donna was starting to run out of ammunition. All the snow around the bench she had been crouching behind had been scooped up. She needed to move to a new position if she wanted to continue being a major player in this game.

Blowing a strand of hair out of her face she decided that she would have to make a run for it. She took a deep breath and scrambled to her feet, racing across the open ground towards a tree. However her path took her into cross fire between CJ and Sam. CJ was slightly slow on the uptake, since her attention was still on Josh. But Sam had been waiting for just such a moment. The barrage of snowballs caused Donna to scream in shock and laughter before diving for the tree.

Josh hearing her scream peered around his tree trunk. He stifled a laugh as he watched what must have been eight or nine snowballs hit her in a couple of seconds. Sam and CJ had now joined together and were trying to eliminate Donna out of the game. The snow around her exploded as snowballs rained down on her position. From his position a few yards away he could see the determination on her face as she began building up her own stash of snowballs, as she hid behind the small tree. However she was aware that she was facing mounting odds against the Cregg-Seaborn offensive. 

"Donna!" Josh yelled. She looked up, a snowball in hand, ready to defend herself. "Come over here, I'll cover you!" She gave him a look that blatantly said she didn't believe him. He waved her over and pointed to his large stash of ready-made snowballs. He had the means to beat the Cregg-Seaborn alliance, but he needed another player to help him deliver the killing blow. She hesitated for a couple of seconds before nodding at him. 

"Ready?" he called.

"Ready!" Again Donna sprinted out from behind her tree at the same time Josh began pelting Sam and CJ with covering snowballs. He laughed as their curses rang out and CJ jumped up trying to shake snow out from her back. "Who's the man!" he thought triumphantly.

He ducked back behind the tree to retrieve some more snowballs just as Donna came skidding into him. He managed to catch her to stop her overshooting the cover of the tree but her momentum knocked both of them to the ground. She landed on him, her breath puffing out around his face as it was knocked out of her. Josh took a moment to take in his new surroundings as he looked up at the darkening sky and the hypnotic falling snowflakes. Then suddenly became aware that he had Donna lying on top of him as her face filled his vision. 

"Hi!" she said softly after finally getting her breath back. Donna pushed herself up on her hands, which were either side of his head, so that she was looking down on him. A loose strand of hair fell forward to tickle his cheek.

"Hi there..." he answered, savouring the sensation of her warmth covering him. Then he winced as his back twinged slightly from the impact with the cold ground.

"Oh!" Donna's hand flew to her mouth before she scrambled off him and then helped him sit up, his back resting against the tree. A lone snowball crashed-landed a foot from her position but she barely noticed it. 

"I'm sorry, Josh. Are you hurt?" He smiled at her concerned face, flushed from the cold and their collision, as she knelt next to him. 

"It's ok. Nothing broken," he said suddenly acutely aware of her warm presence in the cold evening air. His over-heightened senses noted the way their misty breath mingled in the cold air, the way her knee was touching his leg ever so slightly. She looked away sheepishly, feeling responsible for hurting him and then noticed that their fall has destroyed the supply of snowballs he had been cultivating. 

"Oops..." she said turning back to him, gesturing to the pile of snow that had once been his armoury. But whatever else she was going to say died in her throat, as Josh reached up and tucked the stray strand of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail, behind her ear. Suddenly the atmosphere between them changed, thickening and slowing.

His mind barely registered the fact that CJ and Sam had lost interest in them and were now turning on each other. Their laughter and shouts seemed to dim into nothingness. All he could focus on was the beautiful woman, whose face was inches from his own.

"Donna ?" he breathed the question, not trusting his voice, as his liquid brown eyes met her blue ones. Then the connection was made and it jolted both of them together like an electric shock, before pulling them close. For years they had avoided it, one or the other moving away before anything could happen but it had caught them both unaware this time. 

"Hmm.." was the only reply Josh heard, as one of her hands lifted to trace his cheek, seemingly of its own accord. 

"We shouldn't be doing this, not here," he thought but the connection had rendered the two of them powerless to reason. Her fingers were icy but left a trail of fire on his skin as they weaved their enchantment. 

Donna shifted slightly to bring her other hand up to the other side of his face. She was studying his face intently, as if she were seeing him properly for the first time. 

Josh had always imagined that when this moment finally came it would be him that would instigate it, not Donna. Yet looking at her flushed face and her wide eyes, darkening slightly with something he had not seen there before, he realised how wrong he had been. Only she had the courage to take the first step. He wanted to tell her to stop, that Sam and CJ were close by, that they... 

"Donna, we shoul...."

Then her soft lips were on his, stealing away his words, leaving him with only one coherent thought - that kissing Donna was amazing. She shifted slightly, so that she was straddling his lap as he sat. The change allowed her to deepen the kiss, eliciting a groan from him. His cold nose pressed into her warm cheek as her mouth moved over his. One of Josh's hands suddenly tangled in her hair, as he claimed back the kiss, exploring her mouth with a passion. The other slid up her leg to circle her waist and pull her closer. Through her fog-hazed brain, Donna came to the realisation that Joshua Lyman was a man of very many talents.  
  
A few moments later, she broke apart. Their breath mingling as they tried to calm down.

"Donnatella..." Josh began softly.

She looked up at him with sad luminous eyes, laced with a retreating desire. Her lips were swollen from his kisses.

"Shush, Joshua" she said softly. "Say nothing." After a heartbeat he nodded, but he did brush the back of her cold hand with his thumb. She refused to meet his gaze, as she tried to slow her breathing. Then she pulled away from him and stood up. 

Donna knew what had just happened between them had probably been inevitable at some stage. If it hadn't of happened here, it would have happened somewhere else. But one thing she knew - it couldn't happen again. There was too much at stake. But just once, just once, she had wanted to know what it would have been like. To feel his strong arms around her, to taste his lips. It was a moment of weakness that she would carry as a precious memory. An indulgence of a forbidden fruit.

Josh felt bereft of her warmth as she moved away, watching her with deep eyes. When she finally met his gaze, she gave him a sad little smile and then straightened herself and rounded the tree. 

"Truce ! Truce !" she shouted out to CJ and Sam, laughing, her hands raised. It was forced, but only Josh could tell that her voice laced with false humour. 

He lent back against the tree and ran a hand through his hair. Things had suddenly just become a lot more complicated. He had a strange sensation forming in his chest in the aftermath of their embrace. He rubbed his eyes and then stood, ignoring the bruise that was forming on his back. After composing himself, he too rounded the tree to join the other three in the traditional shaking of hands, and brushing off of snow.

  
*****************************

  
Leo walked into his office to find Jed sitting in one of the chairs, an open book in one hand.

"Good evening, Sir." Leo said formally. "Is everything alright ?"

"Yes Leo," he said standing. "I just came in to say goodnight."

"Yes Sir. Goodnight, Sir." 

Jed was reaching for the door. "First snow tonight, Leo."

"So I noticed, Sir."

"Good, good."

"I'll get the gardeners to look at the Rose Garden in the morning, Sir."

"You think I'm whimsical, don't you Leo ?"

"No Sir."

"Yes you do."

"Good night, Sir."

"Good night, Leo."

  
*****************************

  
By the time Josh returned to his office, Donna had already left. He sat down heavily in the chair, unaware his soaking jeans and snow filled shoes. He could still taste her kisses, smell her subtle perfume. He could still feel her cold snow-wet fingers twisting through his hair. He didn't know what to do next, but he knew that he wanted to feel it again...and soon.

He sighed and banged his head gently on the table. 

God they were screwed.

~ The End ~


	2. Chapter 2

Author: TheGeekGirl  
  
Feedback: That would be nice - joshbunny@btinternet.com  
  
Disclaimer: Sadly, these aren't mine :) Damn.  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Category: J/D  
  
Summary: Donna reflects on the snowballing incident, while Josh is a bit  
  
more decisive.  
  
Spoilers: None  
  
Archiving: Just drop me an email first.  
  
Notes: Okay, the lovely amount of feedback in my inbox had one main theme -  
  
trying to convince me to write a sequel. So here it is ! I'm not really sure  
  
where I am going with the story line so it should be a nice surprise for all  
  
of us :) Oh and following Norma's encouraging comments, I withdraw the  
  
"fluff" label on Part 1 :)  
  
  
  
Previously, in Part 1:  
  
By the time Josh returned to his office, Donna had already left. He sat down  
  
heavily in the chair, unaware his soaking jeans and snow filled shoes. He  
  
could still taste her kisses, smell her subtle perfume. He could still feel  
  
her cold snow-wet fingers twisting through his hair. He didn't know what to  
  
do next, but he knew that he wanted to feel it again...and soon.  
  
He sighed and banged his head gently on the table.  
  
God they were screwed.  
  
  
  
~*~*~*~ Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow - Part 2 ~*~*~*~  
  
  
  
Donna stepped out of the shower, surrounded by a heavy fog of steam. By the  
  
time she had driven back from the office, she had been shivering. The  
  
snowball fight had left her with wet jeans and coat and the journey back had  
  
been slow due to the condition of the roads. Her paltry car heater had done  
  
little to dissipate the cold and the damp of her clothes. As soon as she  
  
entered her department she stripped off the wet garments, stopping only to  
  
pour herself a large glass of Pinot Grigio. So she had luxuriated in the  
  
hot shower in an attempt to dispel her shivers or at least that had been the  
  
plan. However as Donna pulled on a large burgundy v-neck sweater and soft  
  
blue shorts, she had to face the realisation that perhaps the shivers could  
  
not be purely accounted for by the fact that she had been cold and wet.  
  
Especially since she was still experiencing the occasional one.  
  
"Perhaps they have something to do with the fact that less than an hour ago  
  
you were kissing Joshua Lyman," a little, and somewhat mischievous voice,  
  
said in her head. Doing the best to ignore the suggestion, Donna wrapped  
  
her hair up in a white fluffy towel and headed into the lounge taking a long  
  
sip of the wine. However the voice had a point, but more than that the  
  
magnitude of her earlier actions were beginning to settle in. "Stupid  
  
Stupid Stupid." she retorted to the impish voice in her mind, emphasising  
  
and enunciating the words forcefully, in a tone that was reminiscent of her  
  
old primary school teacher.  
  
Donna flopped down onto the sofa and gazed out the window, as if an answer  
  
could be found there. She noted that the snowflakes seemed to be falling  
  
heavier and more quickly outside. Donna picked up one of the cushions and  
  
hugged it to her stomach, the wine glass in her other hand. Then she  
  
flicked on the TV, the volume on low so as not to intrude heavily into her  
  
somewhat turbulent thoughts.  
  
A man in a TV was gesturing at a graphic of the North East. "...and the  
  
Washington area is currently experiencing a heavy snowfall. It looks set to  
  
continue throughout the rest of the night and on into the morning. Be  
  
careful out there folks..."  
  
She rested her chin on top of the cushions. How stupid could she have been.  
  
"But you have to admit that it was an amazing toe-curling kiss?" piped up  
  
the voice again. Donna smiled slightly, remembering the feel of Josh's lips  
  
on hers. No. This was serious. What on earth could she have been thinking  
  
? She had thought that she was stronger than to get carried away in the  
  
moment. Then she remembered Josh's arm snaking around her waist to pull her  
  
closer, craving more contact and her lips curved in womanly triumph. No.  
  
Stop it. She could have just got herself fired.  
  
Donna took another long sip of her wine before placing the glass down on the  
  
fake wood panelled floor and unrolled the towel on her head. She began to  
  
pat her hair dry while she reflected on the day's events. It seemed strange  
  
that after so many years, she had been the first to give in. That it had  
  
been her curiosity that finally got the better of her. All she had wanted  
  
to know, when she lent forward, was if his lips tasted as good as she knew  
  
they would. To find out if kissing Josh would be as wonderfully fullfilling  
  
as she wanted/longed/hoped for. To find out if it would be worth waiting the  
  
intervening years for..  
  
So there in front of her had been the proverbial Pandora's box. And what  
  
had she done - did she walk away like she should have done? Hell no. She'd  
  
taken a crowbar to it.  
  
For an intelligent woman she really was incredible stupid at times.  
  
And now she had gone and destroyed the illusion. Through her actions she  
  
had tasted the forbidden fruit, cemented the facts into the light of day,  
  
pulling them of fantasy. "You want to do it again don't you?" the imp said  
  
in her mind. "Shut up," she retorted, as her fingers worked through a knot  
  
in her hair. She wondered whether their friendship, their working  
  
relationship, would now fade away under the embarrassment of her actions.  
  
That by crossing the line she had dissolved the good thing they already had.  
  
"There were two of you participating, and quite eagerly at that.." the voice  
  
said. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," she re-iterated the sentiment over and over  
  
this time out loud, as though by saying it over and over like a mantra, she  
  
could ignore the little part of her, the part that owned the mischievous  
  
voice.  
  
"You enjoyed it though," the voice said quietly as it faded away. She  
  
dropped the towel on the floor and threw her head back against the sofa.  
  
It seemed that kissing Joshua Lyman had just made her certifiable.  
  
  
  
****************************************  
  
  
  
Josh raised his head from his desk and propped his chin up on his arms, the  
  
green wool tickling his chin trying to straighten out his thoughts. "Let's  
  
begin at the beginning, look at this logically." Although trying to apply  
  
logic to Donna Moss was like trying to get the President to take a two-week  
  
vacation. It was skirting on the realm of impossibility. He ran a hand  
  
through his hair and started again.  
  
"Ok. Interesting development," he thought. Then realised that that was  
  
probably the understatement of the year. Donna had kissed him. Well, he  
  
had certainly kissed her back but she had initiated the incident. He looked  
  
up and could just see the edge of her desk through his open doorway. The  
  
office seemed a world away from what had taken place in the Rose Garden only  
  
half an hour ago, but it seemed the more real. He shook his head. No, what  
  
he had felt had been all too real. A fact that scared him with its  
  
implications.  
  
All Josh seemed to have were questions, with no answers. Why had she kissed  
  
him ? What did it mean ? What did she want from him ? What did he want  
  
from her? His overactive mind clued him in on the answer to the last of  
  
those questions causing him to groan and rub his hand over his eyes. "Don't  
  
go there, Joshua," he scolded himself although it was a bit too late he  
  
decided ruefully.  
  
Josh jumped to his feet and started pacing, ignoring the squelching of his  
  
wet shoes. After another hour of pacing around his office he came to the  
  
conclusion that he wasn't getting anywhere with trying to unravel and  
  
evaluate what had happened. He needed to talk with her. It wouldn't be  
  
easy but they needed to face this head on, the same way they had everything  
  
else. The trouble was that when the had faced everything else, he didn't  
  
have the lingering taste of Donna on his lips driving him to distraction.  
  
Sighing, the Deputy Chief of Staff picked up his damp coat and strode  
  
purposefully out of the office. They had to sort this.  
  
  
  
****************************************  
  
The doorbell chimed softly bringing Donna out of her thoughts. She glanced  
  
at the clock on the shelf, a garish 21:07 flashed back at her. Well, he'd  
  
lasted an hour longer than she would have predicted, which meant that this  
  
whole thing had probably disturbed him more deeply than she had first  
  
thought. The ramifications of that sudden realisation did not bear  
  
examining right now. She got up, her bare feet padding quietly across the  
  
cold floor and went to answer the door.  
  
As she expected Josh was standing there, inspecting his shoes having just  
  
realised their condition, as he waited for the door to open. As soon as it  
  
did his head snapped up. She took one look at his snow filled hair and his  
  
shivering lips and then pulled him inside.  
  
"You walked!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Yeah." he replied quietly. "I wasn't really paying attention, was  
  
thinking." He thrust his red raw hands into the pockets of his coat, to  
  
hide them from her as she grabbed his arm pulling him in from her hallway.  
  
"So I noticed," she said dryly as she peeled his soaking coat off him before  
  
propelling him into the warm lounge. He noticed the empty wine glass and  
  
the background noise of the TV as she disappeared into her bedroom. It  
  
seemed that he wasn't the only one who had been lost in thought.  
  
"Donna, we need to ta-talk." he said loudly so that his voice carried to the  
  
bedroom. It would have been fine except that he shivered on the last  
  
syllable.  
  
"Shower first. Talk second." She ordered, as she returned with a spare pair  
  
of his jogging pants and a T-shirt and thrust them into his chest. He  
  
looked blankly at his clothes, absently wondering from where they had  
  
materialised. Then he seemed to dismiss the fact and focus on what he  
  
wanted to say.  
  
"No, Donna. I really think we should talk now."  
  
She looked up at him, her eyes slightly pained but her voice was soft, it  
  
was the same tone she had used by the tree just a few hours ago. "It's  
  
okay. I'm not going anywhere." He said nothing for a moment and then  
  
nodded and went into the bathroom, the door clicked as he turned the lock.  
  
Donna hung his coat up and went to pour herself another glass of white wine,  
  
absently listening to the shower running in the background. As soon as she  
  
had seen him, as soon as they had locked glances, she realised that this was  
  
more serious than she had imagined. This was no drunken kiss at the office  
  
party. His look of determination had dispelled her fervent hope that this  
  
could all be forgotten. This was trouble. Big trouble.  
  
God they were screwed.  
  
  
  
****************************************  
  
to be continued.. 


	3. Chapter 3

Author: TheGeekGirl  
  
Disclaimer: Sadly, these aren't mine :) Damn.  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Category: J/D  
  
Summary: Josh and Donna kiss during a snowball fight and now try to confront the truth  
  
Spoilers: None  
  
Archiving: Just drop me an email first.  
  
Notes: Previous partsÂ can be found on the JoshDonnaFF list.  
  
Â   
  
Â   
  
Previously, in Part 2:  
  
Â   
  
Donna hung his coat up and went to pour herself another glass of white wine, absently listening to the shower running in the background.Â  As soon as she had seen him, as soon as theyÂ  had locked glances, she realised that this was more serious than she had imagined.Â  This was no drunken kiss at the office party.Â  His look of determination had dispelled her fervent hope that this could all be forgotten.Â  This was trouble.Â  Big trouble.  
  
God they were screwed.  
  
Â   
  
Â   
  
~*~*~*~ Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow - PartÂ 3 ~*~*~*~  
  
Â   
  
Â   
  
Donna sat on the sofa, the half drunken glass of wine stillÂ danglingÂ idly andÂ forgotten,Â from her fingertips.Â  Around ten minutes later, she heard the door to the bathroom open andÂ licked her lips nervously.Â  She flicked the remote control on the arm of the sofa, killing the TV and its worsening weather reports, as Josh padded barefoot into the lounge.Â  She looked up at him, dressed in jogging pants and a t-shirt, patting his hair with a white towel wrapped around his neck.Â  He flopped into the single armchair across from her.Â  Donna lifted her glass, "Drink ?" she asked.  
  
Â   
  
"Beer ?" he asked.  
  
Â   
  
DonnaÂ nodded and rose, aware of Josh's eyes on her bare pale legs as she made her way to the kitchen.Â  She returned a few moments later, carrying a cold bottle of beer.Â  Wordlessly she handed it to him and he nodded his thanks.Â  They sat in silence for a few moments, the only sound was the wind gently buffeting the window panes as the snow flurried down outside.Â  It was Donna who spoke first.  
  
Â   
  
"You wanted to talk ?" she said in a quiet yet steady voice,Â summoning her courage to look him in the eye.  
  
Â   
  
Josh nodded and ran a hand throughÂ the damp curls on his head.Â  Despite the self depreciating gesture his gaze met hers.  
  
Â   
  
"Yeah...."Â Â  She said nothing but nodded for him to continue.Â  He picked at the label on his beer bottle for a moment and then looked up again.Â  "I think we need to talk about what happened earlier."Â  Again Donna nodded, this time resignedly.Â  She waited for him to tell her that she was fired, or even worse that he wished it had never happened.Â  Donna braced herself.Â  Whatever he said, she was not going to apologise for it.Â  To apologise would be to insinuate that she regretted the incident.Â  Professionally that might be the case, personally she did not.Â  She took a large sip of her wine, grimacing slightly as it had become warm.  
  
Â   
  
Josh watched her thoughts wash over her expressive face.Â  He gave her a private moment to recollect herself before he spoke.Â "You kissed me," he said softly.Â  His voice was steady and neutral but his expressive brown eyes looking at her intently, conveying a mix of shock, wonder and fear.  
  
Â   
  
Donna nodded once.Â  "I did."  
  
He leant forward slightly, trying to ignore the writhing emotions in his chest.Â  "Why ?"  
  
Â   
  
She closed her eyes for a moment.Â  The killer question.Â  There was still a way out, she could blame it on the moment, the excitement of the snowball match.Â  Yet as she watched him under her lashes, she realised that he deserved the truth.Â  Of all people, she could give him nothing less.Â  She took a deep breath and settled her shoulders.  
  
Â   
  
"Because I wanted to."Â  He blinked at her.Â  Her reply obviously not the one he was expecting.Â  When he said nothing, she spoke again.Â  "Did you....were you...." she faltered, then started again.Â  "Were you not curious ?"  
  
Â   
  
He raised an eyebrow at her.Â   
  
Â   
  
"Curious ?"  
  
Â   
  
"About what it would be like, when we..." her hands gestured between the two of them.Â  He took a moment to understand her meaning and then the other eyebrow rose to join the first.  
  
Â   
  
"Urm...yeah...I guess...I mean I had ima...."Â  She gave him a small triumphant smile, just the one corner of her lips curving upwards.Â  The gesture did nothing to calm Josh.Â  He jumped up, threw the towel onto the chairÂ and began pacing the room in front of the gas fire, beer bottle still in hand.Â  Donna ducked her head to hide her smile, pleased in the knowledge that she had not been the only one who had been curious about the chemistry between them.Â  At least his incomplete statement meant that at least he had been, on some level, open to the idea.Â  As he continued to pace, she watched his bare feet on her floor.Â  It was rare that she saw his feet bare and she indulgedÂ in theÂ simple pleasure of watching them.Â  Then his voice roused her from her observation, oblivious to it.  
  
Â   
  
"You know....you know...you shouldn't have done that !" he exclaimed at her, the frustration evident in his voice.  
  
Â   
  
"I know," she said.Â  "But I did.Â  We did."Â  She stressed the 'we'.  
  
"Yes and now *we* have to deal with it," his tone was reproachful.  
  
Â   
  
She frowned, annoyance flaring that he would lay the blame purely on her.Â  Donna knew that she had initiated the kiss but he had been a willing participant.  
  
Â   
  
"And you are laying the blame purely at my door ?" her voice tinged with anger and incredulity.Â  He stopped his pacing to look at her, his gaze conveying a 'hell, yes'.Â  Donna placed down her glass of wine and leapt to her feet to stand in front of him.  
  
Â   
  
"Don't you dare, Joshua Lyman.Â  As I recall you were not actively protesting at the time.Â  In fact, I would say you were a willing participant."Â  Donna's voice rose slightly on the last few words, her anger tempered only slightly by the fact that he had the common decency to look sheepish for a moment.Â  He looked down at the floor.  
  
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"We shouldn't have...." he began.Â  The plural showing his capitulation to her statement.Â  Donna crossed her arms, trying to keep her anger burning so it would evaporate the tears that she could feel threatening to fall.Â  He looked up at her, her bright eyes shimmering with anger and with pain, once again doing strange things to the emotions deep within him.Â  The connection between them flared for a moment and then died as he looked away.Â Â Â  "We can't..." he said, unable to finish the sentence.  
  
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Donna snorted slightly in distance.Â  His gaze flew up to her, indignant at the response.Â  Her face contorted into barely concealed contempt, yet another way to chase away the tears that she could feel amassing.Â  "Coward !" she said and then turned to make her way to the kitchen.Â  To make her way anywhere than to be in the same room as Josh.  
  
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"WHAT !?!" he shouted and darted forward to grab her by the elbow, turningÂ her towards him.Â  "Just what the hell do you mean by that ?" he said, anger filling him.Â  She shook off his grasp, giving him another scornful look before replying.  
  
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"You know, Josh.Â  In all the years I've known you - in all the year's I've watched you - you were never the man to say 'we shouldn't', 'we mustn't'."Â  She snatched a breathÂ beforeÂ ploughing on.Â  "You were the man who would say, 'we should', 'we must'."Â  Her anger rose up and the tears welled in her eyes.Â  "When everyone else was against you, dismissing your arguments with rational explanations - polite, quiet explanations.Â  Can't do that.Â  Mustn't offend. *You* were the passionate one.Â  Dismissing all that.Â  'Screw them' you said.Â  Because 'we must'...'we should'...because if 'we don't who will'....".Â  Donna stabbed a fingernail into his chest, her voice became rougher.Â  "You're a fraud, Joshua Lyman.Â  A fake and a phoney...."  
  
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This time she stormed away from him before he could catch her.Â  Trying to muster some dignity and some semblance ofÂ rationally thinking.Â  She entered theÂ kitchen and laid her hands on the coolÂ worktop,Â angrily wiping away a tear that had fallen.Â  She wouldn't let him see her cry.Â  She was too strong for thatÂ  Too angry at herself for giving in to the want, the curiosity.Â  Damned if she would spill tears for him.  
  
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Josh stood, bewildered in the lounge, staring at where she had exited the room.Â  He ran a hand through his hair.Â  "Goddamn, Pandora's Box...." he muttered.Â  He placed the beer bottle down, next to her wine glass and took a moment to gather his thoughts.Â  Then he followed her into the kitchen, wincing slightly at the cold lineoum beneath his feet.  
  
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"Donna, please......" he began from the doorway, watching her back straighten at his voice.Â  She didn't turn around.  
  
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"Josh.Â  Just go." she said, in a voice heavy with defeat.Â  He made no response but moved closer, not missing how her body tensed as she realised he had not followed her wish.Â  "Please..." she said in a tired voice.Â  Donna just wanted him to leave her.Â  To go away.Â  It was obvious that he didn't want their relationship to change from the one the public saw, no matter what had happened earlier on that day.Â  If he left now, there was a chance that perhaps that on Monday they could at least pretend to be back to normal.Â  At least to the outside world.  
  
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"No."Â  his voice was steely yet soft, in reply to her command.Â  It was just enough to spark her anger again.Â  She spun to face him.Â  He faltered ever so slightly as she saw the fresh track the escaped tear had madeÂ on her cheek.Â Â  She frowned at him, opening her mouth to tell him to just leave her in peace.Â Â Josh pre-emptied it with another, "No."Â  He stopped a pace in front of her.Â  "Donna,Â we shouldn't have done what we did today...." he continued, repeating his statement from earlier.Â Â  Her eyes closed in despair.  
  
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"I know.." she began in a sarcastic tone to mimic his former words, her eyes closing in defeat.  
  
Â   
  
Josh interrupted her.Â  "No you don't.Â Â You didn't let meÂ finish what I had to say."Â Â   
  
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Donna's eyes flew open, guarded, readying for the fight.Â Â Josh sighed internally as he saw her reaction.Â  He took a step forward, closing the space between them.Â Â "The reason that you shouldn't have kissed me...." he saidÂ softly.Â  The heat from earlier, the connection, flared into existence once more.Â   
  
Â   
  
"...is that..."Â  Josh's hand strayed out to touch her cheek, his fingers gently touchingÂ her soft skin.Â   
  
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"....is that...I'm going to have...."Â  His other hand curved around her waist.Â  Donna's breath increased slightly, her eyes wide with shock.Â   
  
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"....do it again....."Â Â Â  JoshÂ suddenly pulled her to him closing the gap between them.Â  Donna gasped as suddenly his mouth was on hers.Â The anger in her, retreated under a flare of desire, fuelling it.Â  All she knew was Josh.Â  As his mouth pressed against hers, Donna'sÂ handsÂ flew up, one to thread through his hair, the other to curve around his neck.Â  Unconsciously her body melded against his, a groan issuing from both of them as Josh deepened their kiss.  
  
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God, they were screwed.  
  
Â   
  
****************************************  
  
to be continued.. 


End file.
